• CHERYL G. CRUZ
An adult mendicant found begging in the streets of Bacolod shall be fined P1,000, imprisoned for one month, or both, at the discretion of the court.
This penal proviso is among the amendments to the ordinance that seeks to regulate mendicancy in the highly-urbanized city, and approved on third and final reading by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The amendatory ordinance, authored by Councilor Israel Salanga, states that “mendicancy breeds crime, creates traffic hazards, endangers health, and exposes medicants to a life of ridicule, danger, and degradation. There is need to respond with compassion to this growing social problem of the city and to provide appropriate services to enable mendicants to meet their basic needs and develop self-reliance.”
A mendicant using violence, threats, intimidation, or force in begging shall be fined P5,000, jailed for one year, or both at the discretion of the court, the ordinance stressed.
Any minor, aged 15 to below 18 years old, found begging and who acted with discernment shall be rescued, given intervention, referred to the center for minor offenders for appropriate assessment, it added.
Meanwhile, a suspected mentally-ill person found begging and roaming around the streets of Bacolod shall be apprehended and referred for confinement and treatment at the Bacolod City Mental Health Center and/or other institutions that provide similar services with proper support and coordination with the DSSD, the ordinance, co-authored by Councilor Celia Matea Flor, said.
“Any person who encourages or abets mendicancy by giving alms, in the form of money, directly to mendicants, exploited infants and minor in the streets, public roads, sidewalks, and parks shall be fined P500”, and issued a citation ticket, the ordinance states.
If caught for the second time, the one giving the alms shall be fined P1,000, jailed for one day, or both, at the discretion of the court.
A budget of P3 million shall be allocated each year to implement the ordinance, even as the public is urged not to give alms directly to mendicants but to donate their money to entities involved in their rehabilitation. | CGC
